Back in Colorado

I’ve returned for an almost annual visit to one of my favorite states. The first phase of this two-week trip was visiting Nancy, my longest friend and her family. Details below pics.

: Approaching Denver – this Frontier Airlines flight was the most cramped I’ve ever experienced.

: Nancy, Steve, and Zach

: This slide reminds of one I used to go on each summer as a kid, except that one was wooden and we slide down on gunny sacks.

: Frontier Days fairground

: Frontier Nights – concerts to be avoided if you care about sound quality and want to maintain your hearing

: Nancy heading to The Crags

: Alpine Avens

: Indian Paintbrush

: This butterfly (Hoary Comma?) stayed still just long enough for me to get a shot

: Much of the trail is through a forest

: Close to our destination

: Bristlecone Pine

: The Crags

: Near our lunch spot, quickly abandoned due to fear of approaching thunderstorm (we only got a few drops of rain)

: Heading back

: Thistle with a bad hair day

: Mariposa Lily

: A pink wildflower

: A pleasant sound, about half of the hike was along a stream

: View through windshield

: Somewhere between Divide and Buena Vista (pronounced “buna vista”)

: We could see storms in the distance, but they missed us.

: We stayed in this funky little cabin in Buena Vista, much more personality than a hotel chain.

: Independence Pass, elevation 12,096′

: The Continental Divide

: Great clouds today

: From a garden in Aspen where we had a tasty lunch

7/27 – Getting There

The space allotted per passenger continues to shrink. The tray table on my flight to Denver was so tiny it couldn’t hold my travel mug, the pouch too small to hold a book, and the seats didn’t recline. Given that my knees almost touched the seat in front, this was a good thing, however, it made it more difficult to nap.

Nancy picked me up and we drove north, first to her home in Fort Collins and then on to Cheyenne for a concert. The music was too loud even with earplugs, with way too much base. We left early (déjà vu, this happened last time). The volume was about right at the exit to the fairgrounds.

7/28-29 – Visiting Nancy’s Family

We cancelled our planned trip to a rodeo because Nancy developed a toothache and had to have a tooth extracted. That day I shopped and did a little planning for my next trip; it’s always great to have one on the horizon. The next morning I went paddle boarding for the first time in my life, with Nancy and Zach, her son, at Horsetooth Reservoir. I got up, stayed up and want to go again! I indulged in a pedicure while Nancy got her nails done, we tasted chocolate, and when out for yummy meals with Steve, her husband, and Zach.

July 30-31 – Road Trip

Nancy and I left her home early and drove several hours to reach the Crags Trailhead, east of Pikes Peak. The hike was rated “easy”, only five miles with 700’ elevation gain, however, the trail went up from 10,000’ and a couple days in mile-high Fort Collins was not enough to get acclimatized; I was breathing hard. We took it slow.

We had lunch in Aspen, then Nancy dropped me off in Snowmass where I will be attending an art class. I settled into my dorm room and finished selecting photos for this blog post.